'Always a smile, never an unkind word': Colleagues mourn firefighter killed at station

'Always a smile, never an unkind word': Colleagues mourn firefighter killed at station

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Updated: 10:15 AM EDT Jun 26, 2018

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WEBVTT WLWT NEWS 5’S KARIN JOHNSON HAS MORE FROM HILLSBORO. KARIN: A SAD DAY HERE IN HIGHLAND COUNTY. AS THE COMMUNITY AND FIREFIGHTERS MOURN THE DEATH OF ONE OF THEIR OWN PAINT CREEK FIRE SAYS JOE PATTERSON WAS WORKING WITH COMPRESSED AIR CYLINDERS AT THE FIRE HOUSE WHEN HE WAS CRITICALLY INJURED. THE FIREFIGHTER/EMT WAS FLOWN TO KETTERING MEDICAL CENTER WHERE HE LATER DIED. THE HIGHLAND COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE IS ASSISTING IN THE DEA INVESTIGATION. WE EXPECT TO LEARN MORE ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED, AND MORE ABOUT WHO PATT

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'Always a smile, never an unkind word': Colleagues mourn firefighter killed at station

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Firefighters said Patterson was working with a compressed air cylinder--a scuba tank--when he was critically injured. He was flown to Kettering Medical Center where he later died.

"Details are still thin. All we know is there was a catastrophic failure of a tank and that caused Joe's injuries, and they weren't survivable," Paint Creek Public Information Officer Branden Jackman said.

Co-workers described Patterson as a dedicated firefighter who also worked at two other departments in Ross County.

"He was truly that guy everybody enjoyed working with," Chief David Manning said.

Friends said his smile, sarcasm and humor are already deeply missed.

"He was one of those people, if he could get your goat, he would. If he found your button, you were in trouble because he would push your button and push your button until you started to get upset with him, and you'd look over and he'd just be sitting there smiling," Jackman said. "Always a smile, never an unkind word."

Friends said Patterson loved to tinker and was known as the MacGyver of the firehouse.

"I watched him fix a tower. A tower truck with a 100-foot ladder wouldn't start for a neighboring department. They'd come in for a special detail. He fixed it with an alligator clip, a screw driver and a piece of wire. The man could fix anything," Jackman said.

As fire crews continued to respond to calls Monday afternoon, they were also grieving. The incident weighs heavily on the minds. The firehouse is supposed to be their safe place.

"We train and we train and we train and we train some more for the stuff that can kill us out there. We never think it's going to be something in here that'll kill us," Jackman said.

The Highland County Sheriff's Office and State Fire Marshal are investigating the accident.

Jackman said Patterson was not filling the tank at the time because there is no filling station at the firehouse in which he was working.

Patterson will be buried with full honors.

Visitation is set for Thursday from 4 to 8 p.m. and the funeral will be held Friday at 1 p.m. at Southeastern High School in Chillicothe.